Shows
What’s My Thesis?280 Kelly Witmer | Glass, Clay, and the Desert: Material Process & Survival in the Art WorldArtist Kelly Witmer joins host Javier Proenza to talk about material process, experimentation, and what it means to sustain an art practice in the desert. Based between Joshua Tree and Los Angeles, Witmer works across glass, ceramics, and painting, transforming the unpredictability of the kiln into a meditation on control, failure, and transformation.
In this episode, she traces her trajectory from photography and printmaking at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia to her later exploration of sculpture and abstraction. The conversation moves through her early life in Pennsylvania’s Mennonite community, her relocation to Los Angeles in...
2025-12-021h 14What’s My Thesis?277 Elmer Guevara | Painting the 1992 LA Uprisings, Inherited Trauma, and the Salvadoran American ExperienceIn this episode of What’s My Thesis?, Los Angeles–based painter Elmer Guevara returns to the podcast ahead of his upcoming exhibition at Charlie James Gallery. Known for his densely layered figurative paintings, Guevara reflects on how memory, history, and inherited trauma shape his visual language.
The conversation traces his evolution from graffiti to oil painting, his deep engagement with South Central Los Angeles, and the ways he reconstructs the 1992 Los Angeles uprisings through scenes of everyday life. Blending autobiography with collective history, Guevara explores how painting can act as both a historical record and emotional arch...
2025-10-211h 07What’s My Thesis?274 Emma Christ on Artillery Magazine, Gallery Work, and the Future of Artist SupportIn this episode of What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza speaks with Emma Christ, editor at Artillery magazine and gallerist working between Portland and Los Angeles. Christ reflects on her beginnings in photography, formative years at Bard and Reed, and her transition from artistic practice into gallery management, editing, and writing.
The conversation traces her early influences—from Francesca Woodman, Diane Arbus, and William Eggleston to mentorship under No Wave photographer Barbara Ess—before moving into immersive installation work and a graduate thesis on trans-corporeality and the porous body. Christ discusses her experiences in institutions such as the...
2025-09-231h 25What’s My Thesis?272 Jackie Castillo: Southern California Light, Class, & Installation Art | ICA LAIn this episode of What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza sits down with Los Angeles–based artist Jackie Castillo, whose practice transforms the overlooked landscapes of Southern California into sculptural, spatial interventions that challenge how we see, inhabit, and remember place.
Born and raised in working-class neighborhoods of Orange County, Castillo’s perspective is deeply rooted in the lived realities of the region—its immigrant histories, economic divides, and the architectural patchwork that defines its suburbs. Trained as a film-based photographer, she has evolved her practice to merge photography, sculpture, and installation, creating works that slow the act...
2025-09-091h 14What’s My Thesis?271 Feminist Ritual, Asian Art, and Curating Beyond the Western Gaze | Ann Shi (a poco art collective)This week on What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza is joined by Ann Shi, a nomadic curator and founder of a poco art collective, whose deeply intuitive curatorial practice bridges Chinese literati aesthetics, feminist mysticism, and contemporary Asian diasporic identity. With roots in China, academic training in Oxford and at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, and early career experience on Wall Street, Ann’s nonlinear path defies institutional expectations, illuminating how curating can become both an embodied ritual and an act of cultural translation.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Ann reflects on growing up as the daughter of a c...
2025-08-261h 04What’s My Thesis?270 Filipino-American Artist Kim Garcia on Dementia, Diaspora, and Art as Emotional ArchiveIn this resonant episode of What’s My Thesis?, artist and educator Kim Garcia joins host Javier Proenza for a layered conversation about memory, community, and the personal and political frameworks that shape diasporic identity. Garcia, whose practice spans sculpture, drawing, and community-based collaboration, reflects on her evolving relationship to artmaking—from early experiments in artist-run residencies to recent work that channels intergenerational trauma, familial mythology, and the slow grief of dementia.
Raised in San Diego and based in Los Angeles, Garcia traces her trajectory through California’s UC system, from UCSD to a transformative MFA at UC Irv...
2025-08-191h 06What’s My Thesis?269 Paper, Process, and the Alchemy of Grief with Lauren Goldenberg LongoriaIn this episode of What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza is joined by artist Lauren Goldenberg Longoria for a conversation that traverses personal memory, studio practice, and the tender labor of transformation. Known for her materially rich works that fuse paper, performance, and poetic intuition, Goldenberg Longoria speaks candidly about the healing logic of her process—and the quiet revolutions that can occur through repetition, care, and tactility.
Trained in traditional printmaking and now immersed in the world of handmade paper, Goldenberg Longoria discusses how she builds meaning through destruction—tearing and pulping paper from past works...
2025-08-121h 11What’s My Thesis?268 Aggressive Feminism, Neurodivergence, and the Reclamation of Minimalism with Dena NovakIn this candid and moving conversation, host Javier Proenza sits down with Los Angeles-based artist Dena Novak, whose sculptural paintings and ceramics challenge the rigid codes of minimalism through what she calls “aggressive feminism.” Drawing from a rich personal archive of experience—one shaped by Orthodox Judaism, motherhood, neurodivergence, and trauma—Novak’s work reimagines historically male-dominated art historical tropes with unapologetic sensuality and material intensity.
A recent recipient of the Simon Gad Foundation Award and an MFA candidate at Otis College of Art and Design, Novak shares how a life-altering diagnosis of autism at age 50 reshaped her unders...
2025-08-041h 07What’s My Thesis?Diana Taylor: A practice where research and materiality meet.
Presented by What's My Thesis? in partnership with DON’T LOOK ProjectsDiana Taylor: A practice where research and materiality meet.
Presented by What's My Thesis? in partnership with DON’T LOOK Projects
In this illuminating live conversation recorded at DON’T LOOK Projects, UK-based artist Diana Taylor joins host Javier Proenza (What’s My Thesis?) for a deeply textured discussion around her first solo show in the United States, Flotsam and Jetsam. Organized by DON’T LOOK Projects in association with SLQS Gallery in London, the exhibition draws on Taylor’s research-intensive practice, exploring time through the fusion of research and materiality. Her work employs a remix logic, ech...
2025-07-311h 04What’s My Thesis?267 Gentrification, Grief, and the Labor That Built California with Corey La RueIn this episode, artist and community advocate Corey La Rue. traces his relationship to the land, labor, and survival—from a near-death experience that altered the course of his life, to his ongoing advocacy for California’s agricultural workers and displaced communities.
Raised in the Bay Area in California, La Rue shares his early exposure to fieldwork through family ties to migrant labor. These firsthand experiences, coupled with his own time working in agriculture, shape his nuanced understanding of the exploitation embedded in the state’s economy. What emerges is a critique rooted not in theory, but in liv...
2025-07-291h 24What’s My Thesis?266 Dreams in Migrations: AAPI Identity, Diaspora, and Resistance in Contemporary Art
Dreams in Migrations: AAPI Identity, Diaspora, and Resistance in Contemporary Art
In this special live episode of What's My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza moderates a closing panel discussion at BG Gallery for Dreams in Migrations—the third annual AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) exhibition curated by artist and organizer Sung-Hee Son. This timely conversation assembles a multigenerational roster of artists whose practices interrogate identity, memory, imperialism, and the myth of the model minority through distinct formal languages and lived experiences.
Featuring artists Dave Young Kim, Mei Xian Qiu, and others, the episode moves fluidly be...
2025-07-2257 minWhat’s My Thesis?264 Strategic Generosity: Collecting, Curating, and Championing Emerging Artists with Leslie FramStrategic Generosity: Collecting, Curating, and Championing Emerging Artists with Leslie Fram
In this galvanizing episode of What's My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza is joined by Leslie Fram—collector, curator, marketing strategist, MFA educator, and tireless champion of emerging talent—for a sweeping conversation that summons the urgent need for innovation as well as entrepreneurial literacy among artists today.
Fram’s multifaceted career is an exercise in forecasting trends. Formerly a dancer with the NYC Ballet, Fram studied art at Parsons, founded a fashion design company, became the Trends Editor of Cosmopolitan, obtained an MBA from Columbi...
2025-07-081h 06What’s My Thesis?263 Astrology, Embodiment, and the Myth of Power: A Conversation with Alystair RogersAstrology, Embodiment, and the Myth of Power: A Conversation with Alystair Rogers
In this episode of What's My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza is joined by artist Alystair Rogers for a searching, radically honest exploration of transformation—personal, political, and astrological. Traversing terrains of gender, spirituality, social critique, and visual language, Rogers shares the deeply embodied trajectory that led to his MFA thesis: an immersive installation confronting capitalism, queerness, and cosmic time.
With the insight of a cultural theorist and the intuition of a mystic, Rogers recounts how early encounters with Scott Cunningham’s Solitary Practitioner and...
2025-06-241h 24What’s My Thesis?262 Building Gene’s Dispensary: Community, Curation, and Creating New Art Spaces in Los Angeles with Keith J VaradiBuilding Gene’s Dispensary: Community, Curation, and Creating New Art Spaces in Los Angeles with Keith J Varadi
In this wide-ranging conversation on What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza welcomes artist, curator, and writer Keith J. Varadi, founder of Gene’s Dispensary, for an illuminating discussion on forging alternative pathways in the contemporary art world. Through candid reflection, Varadi shares their journey from painting to sound art, music, and ultimately to the establishment of their independent gallery space in Los Angeles—a project that has rapidly become a vibrant hub for creative cross-pollination.
Drawing on years...
2025-06-171h 26What’s My Thesis?260 Light, Legacy, and the Detroit Mindset with Gerald CollinsThis week on What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza is joined in-person by multidisciplinary artist Gerald Collins, whose practice illuminates the intersection of architecture, chromotherapy, and community. Based in Detroit, Collins returns to the show for a candid and expansive conversation that moves through memory, material, and meaning with striking clarity. Spanning topics from childhood sketchbooks to large-scale light installations, this episode traces Collins’s journey from the east side of Detroit to Topanga Canyon and back again—both physically and philosophically. The artist reflects on the deep roots of his creative practice, from early encouragement during “bring your kid...
2025-05-181h 04What’s My Thesis?259 The Radical Intimacy of the House Gallery: Rethinking the Contemporary Gallery Model with Liz HirschIn this episode of What's My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza is joined by Liz Hirsch, co-director of 839—an artist-run house gallery in Los Angeles that reimagines what a commercial art space can look and feel like. Located in a 1920's bungalow, 839 is part of a growing network of intimate, artist-centered spaces shaping the future of exhibition-making in L.A. With a background in academia, curatorial work, and community organizing, Hirsch discusses the vision behind 839: a space that supports artists through solo shows, long-term relationships, and thoughtful engagement. Many of the gallery's artists-including Olivia Gibian, Andrés Janacua, and Nichelle Dai...
2025-05-111h 05What’s My Thesis?258 Queer Spectacle, Polaroid Realities, and the Art of Wrestling with Identity with Christopher Anthony VelascoQueer Spectacle, Polaroid Realities, and the Art of Wrestling with Identity with Christopher Anthony Velasco
In this illuminating episode of What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza welcomes artist and educator Christopher Anthony Velasco—a polymath of performative personas, analog photography, and speculative queer mythologies. Known for his immersive character work and deep engagement with the aesthetics of subversion, Velasco brings an electrifying mix of vulnerability, irreverence, and narrative dissonance to a conversation that resists containment.
Anchored by his long-running alter ego The Doctor, Velasco charts a performative lineage from backyard wrestling and horror cinema to b...
2025-05-041h 37What’s My Thesis?257 Building a Gallery from the Ground Up: Materiality, Mentorship, and Making Space with Rhett Baruch
In this episode of the podcast, host Javier Proenza is joined by Rhett Baruch, founder of the contemporary art space Rhett Baruch Gallery, for a candid conversation that moves fluidly between car culture and curatorial strategy—touching on everything from VTEC engines and flat-plane V8s to the architecture of gallery identity in Los Angeles.
Baruch discusses his unconventional journey from car enthusiast to gallerist, tracing how a passion for craftsmanship, aesthetics, and the tactile qualities of objects evolved into a sharp curatorial practice. With no formal background in the art world, Baruch speaks to the...
2025-04-271h 26What’s My Thesis?256 Worldbuilding Through Memory and Myth: Elias Hernandez on Storytelling, Surrealism, and the Legacy of Conflict"Worldbuilding Through Memory and Myth: Elias Hernandez on Storytelling, Surrealism, and the Legacy of Conflict"
In this immersive episode of What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza welcomes artist and educator Elias Hernandez, whose deeply narrative visual practice draws from Latin American surrealism, video game aesthetics, and inherited stories of displacement and resilience. A recent MFA graduate from USC and collaborator with cult streetwear label Brain Dead, Hernandez charts a complex universe in his paintings—populated by star-bearing knights, sentient castles, and time-traveling wizards—where memory, mythology, and trauma are rendered in fantastical allegory.
Born in Mou...
2025-04-131h 03What’s My Thesis?255 Sanctuary in Practice: Art, Advocacy, and Survival with Dalia PalaciosEpisode Title: “Sanctuary in Practice: Art, Advocacy, and Survival with Dalia Palacios”
In this luminous and profoundly intimate episode of What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza is joined by teaching artist and community advocate Dalia Palacios, whose multidisciplinary practice and lived experience offer a compelling meditation on resilience, displacement, motherhood, and the transformative power of art.
Palacios, born and raised in Echo Park, Los Angeles, recounts her early creative awakening amid housing insecurity, gentrification, and cultural dislocation. Her trajectory—from riding buses and bicycles across the city, to leading youth art workshops that reflect current...
2025-04-061h 16What’s My Thesis?254 Art as Infrastructure: A Conversation on Social Practice, Community, and the Evolving Role of Nonprofit Art Spaces in Los AngelesArt as Infrastructure: A Conversation on Social Practice, Community, and the Evolving Role of Nonprofit Art Spaces in Los Angeles
An interview with Pranay Reddy, Director of LA Artcore
In this compelling episode of What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza sits down with Pranay Reddy, the director of LA Artcore, for a far-reaching conversation that explores the role of nonprofit art spaces as vital community infrastructure in Los Angeles. With clarity, conviction, and deep sincerity, Reddy offers an unfiltered look at his trajectory from punk and zine culture in suburban Colorado to leading one of th...
2025-03-301h 33What’s My Thesis?253 Artist-Run Futures, and Burning the Art World Down (Gently) - Cat GunnSpiritual Kinship, Artist-Run Futures, and Burning the Art World Down (Gently) - Cat Gunn
In this episode of What’s My Thesis, Javier Proenza welcomes Cat Gunn—artist, curator, and co-organizer of Other Places Art Fair South (OPAF South)—for a wide-ranging conversation on community, creative identity, and the radical possibilities within artist-run spaces.
Rooted in their early relationship to art and shaped by their current role in the San Diego-based initiative Harvest and Gather, the dialogue illuminates the power of collaborative curation and experimental presentation. Gunn shares the ethos behind Harvest and Gather’s programm...
2025-03-231h 28What’s My Thesis?252 Art Criticism, Political Engagement, and the Role of Discontent with Elwyn PalmertonArt Criticism, Political Engagement, and the Role of Discontent with Elwyn Palmerton
What’s My Thesis? Podcast | Hosted by Javier Proenza
In this incisive and far-ranging episode of What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza welcomes artist and writer Elwyn Palmerton for a wide-reaching dialogue that explores the intersections of contemporary art, cultural criticism, and local political activism. From Palmerton’s formative years navigating the vibrant New York art scene of the late 1990s to his incisive voice as an art critic today, the conversation offers a candid and layered portrait of an individual devoted to truth-te...
2025-03-161h 05What’s My Thesis?251 What’s My Thesis? – Live from Orange Coast College: Dakota Noot on Art, Censorship & Community Building
What’s My Thesis? – Live from Orange Coast College: Dakota Noot on Art, Censorship & Community Building
Orange Coast College | Frank M. Doyle Pavilion | Southern California Art Scene
In this milestone episode of What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza sits down with artist, curator, and community-builder Dakota Noot for a special conversation inside an ambitious group exhibition at the Frank M. Doyle Pavilion at Orange Coast College.
As the acting gallery director, Noot reflects on their journey from North Dakota to Southern California, exploring their evolution as both an artist and curator. The discussion unveils the co...
2025-03-091h 18What’s My Thesis?248 Embracing the Artist’s Journey with Clarisse AbelardeEpisode Summary: In this episode of What's My Thesis, host Javier Proenza sits down with artist Clarisse Abelarde to discuss her artistic journey, the impact of technology on contemporary culture, and the realities of making a living as an artist. From her immigrant experience moving from the Philippines to the U.S. at 14 to navigating the competitive art world, Clarisse shares her insights on balancing creativity with financial stability, the significance of artist residencies, and the evolving nature of her work.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Clarisse’s early life and how being an i...
2025-02-091h 15What’s My Thesis?247 Surviving, Creating, and Building: A Conversation with Zeina BaltagiIn this deeply personal and thought-provoking episode of What's My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza sits down with artist, educator, and community builder Zeina Baltagi for an unfiltered discussion on survival, art, and the intersections of mobility—physical, economic, and spiritual.
Zeina shares their journey of resilience, from surviving childhood illness and economic instability to navigating the evolving landscape of contemporary art and activism. They reflect on the profound impact of survivor’s guilt, cultural identity, and the responsibility of bearing witness in times of crisis. With a practice rooted in lived experience, Zeina’s work explores everything from p...
2025-02-031h 08What’s My Thesis?246 Navigating Community Activism and Local Politics - Neighborhood Council President Fernanda Sanchez246 Navigating Community Activism and Local Politics with Fernanda Sanchez
Episode Summary: In this compelling episode of What's My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza sits down with community activist and neighborhood council member Fernanda Sanchez for a deep dive into the world of grassroots activism, local politics, and the ongoing fight against gentrification in Los Angeles. Fernanda shares candid insights on the challenges of political engagement, the realities of navigating systemic barriers, and how communities can mobilize to protect their neighborhoods.
The conversation covers the critical intersection of activism and art, the impact of corporate gentrification, and...
2025-01-261h 25What’s My Thesis?244 The End of Art School Critiques - Amir ZakiThe End of Art School Critiques with Amir Zaki | Episode 244
In this episode, photographer Amir Zaki joins Javier Proenza to explore the dramatic shift in art school critiques and how they've evolved from rigorous technical assessments to something much more complex and subjective. As an artist who’s experienced both sides of the critique system, Amir offers a unique perspective on how the traditional model of evaluating art is becoming increasingly obsolete in today’s art world.
Art school critiques, once focused primarily on technical mastery and formal analysis, have undergone a transformation. As art prac...
2025-01-051h 28
Angel City Culture QuestJavier Proenza of What’s My Thesis? The son of United Nations diplomats, Artist Javier Proenza grew up in the global foreign service networks of Washington DC, San Jose, Costa Rica and Rome, Italy. While Rome nurtured his interest in art, history and global politics, his high school and college years in Miami are when he reached his final form of Florida Man. His conceptual art practice is centered on the universal absurdities of contemporary experience, and is realized in various traditions including painting, sculpture, video, and installation. In 2018 Javier gave up on grad school, designed a scam to have art...
2024-06-1831 minWhat’s My Thesis?143. How to Make Art Friends - Maiden LA Co-Founder Molly SchulmanArtist and Maiden LA Co-Founder Molly Schulman and Javier Proenza talk about how they went from relative obscurity to active members of the artist run scene in LA without having MFAs. From the Launch of Maiden LA in 2016 to the current ambitions of What's My Thesis? Javier and Molly discuss their good and bad experiences networking in the art world.
2022-08-111h 21What’s My Thesis?128. Where Inspiration Comes From - Pilar RiusArtist Pilar Rius initiates a discussion about where inspiration comes from as we observe cultural differences between the French and Americans. Are Americans too positives and the French too negative? We observe the evolution of the genius as an external source of inspiration to the contemporary understanding that a person is a genius, because they have access to inspiration. we end on a fun discussion on wether the origin of inspiration is always a positive experience, or is it something that also comes from emotions like outrage? Is Javier a conspiracy theorist, or has America carceral system really that...
2021-07-181h 182020-09-011h 162020-08-241h 132020-08-181h 142020-08-111h 14What’s My Thesis?89. Lebanese American Experiences - Zeina BaltagiArtist @zeina_baltagi and I talk about the differences and similarities in our relationship to European Colonialism and American Imperialism.
2020-08-061h 18What’s My Thesis?88. Trusting Your Work More - Rukudzo MutambaraArtist and Student @feedartiste takes us back to art school, where we all first became acquainted with ominous self doubt.
2020-07-271h 16What’s My Thesis?TEASER - Decolonizing the Self - Abdiel LopezAbdiel Lopez returns to talk about the work they've been doing in isolation to deprogram themself from the white supremacy they've internalized. How do the constructs of gender, and race imposed on a body exist when that body is alone for months at a time. We also delv into Abdiel's emerging drag persona, and performance art practice.
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2020-07-2400 minWhat’s My Thesis?87. The Sun is a Perfect Black Body - Lorenzo BakerArtist Lorenzo Baker Returns to talk about the social changes that have taken place since the last time we spoke about Anti Blackness and White Supremacy.
2020-07-201h 32What’s My Thesis?TEASER - Commercialization of Apathy - Matt MirandaMatt Miranda from the Starts in Epistemic Bottoming episode returns.
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2020-07-1500 minWhat’s My Thesis?86. My Gender is Black - André Terrel JacksonArtists @andreterreljackson talks about the history of stripes, how race impacts one’s ability to access masculinity, as defined by normative gender standards, and intersectionality as a conversation about power over of one focused on oppression.
2020-07-131h 44What’s My Thesis?85. Film Cameras - Michelle LisaArtist and Photographer @lichellemisa gives us a primer on how to select the perfect film camera for you, by taking us on a journey through her experiences shooting with ten different film cameras (and one digital). Throwing hard shade at "Film Bros," Michelle shows us that the best camera's are not always the most hyped, and how the camera you shoot with will affect the relationship you have with your subject. A genuinely passionate conversation that will make you want to break out your cameras and shoot again.
2020-06-221h 17What’s My Thesis?84. Science and Metaphor - Gozié OjiniArtist Gozié Ojini talks about his research into the Large Hadron Collider at Cern, intentionally growing black mold, and how his scientific research folds into his art practice. We talk a little art, a little science, and a little mysticism in the first episode I recorded after the Corona lockdown began back in march.
2020-06-0857 minWhat’s My Thesis?83. Intelligent Dance Music, and Natural Dye - Cat LauiganArtist and Musician Cat Lauigan and I process the sadness of George Floyd's murder after the first day of riots in Minneapolis. We share experiences we have had with the Amy Coopers in our lives, before reminiscing on the influence the Rave scene had on us as artists. Loud techno, beautiful flyers, nootropic bars, and RAVER FASHION lead us into a conversation about Cat's natural dying practice, in which she makes period inspired clothing of an invented origin using recycled fabrics and natural dying techniques.
2020-06-011h 04What’s My Thesis?82. Universal Basic Income, Two Concepts of Liberty, and Class WarIn this solo episode, I revisit Universal Basic Income, and Isaiah Berlin's Two Concepts of Liberty in relation to the Covid 19 pandemic response.
2020-05-1852 min2020-03-301h 102020-03-231h 052020-03-091h 082020-03-021h 052020-02-101h 012020-02-031h 042020-01-2759 min2020-01-131h 022020-01-051h 142020-01-011h 11What’s My Thesis?71. Flesh and Foliage - Peter Max LawrenceArtist @petermaxlawrence and I ban politics from part two of our conversation, and argue about comic books instead.
2019-12-261h 28What’s My Thesis?70. Death to Neo-isms - Peter Max LawrenceArtist and brother from another mother @petermaxlawrence and I join forces for the most ambitious crossover event of all time. What's My Thesis and Time Waster Radio duke it out for podcasting supremacy, leaving piles of innocent bystander corpses in their wake, as they suss out the differences between leftists, Neoconservative and Neoliberals.
Also I conflate Cuba and Costa Rica, but you can tell I mean Cuba because I reference sugar cane.
2019-12-071h 29What’s My Thesis?69. Centro America - Pamela RamosArtist @pameeeela and I discuss the range of Latin American cultural experiences that are often seen as singular and interchangeable. We talk about the racism that exists between countries who's cultural identity was founded on Spanish colonialism, and the problems we have with words like Savage, Civil, and Ally. Also, would Eddie Redmayne be considered attractive if American beauty standards were less Eurocentric?
2019-11-251h 09What’s My Thesis?68. Ambiguity of Research - Pamela RamosArtist @pameeeela talks about immigrating to Baltimore, and breaks down cultural nuances as we explore the wide range of practices artists consider research.
2019-11-181h 08What’s My Thesis?67. Overwatch, Anime, and Comics - Rakeem CunninghamArtist @rakeemc and I discuss our love hate relationship with the video game Overwatch, and how it’s the only thing that fills us with unhindered rage, before getting into the lore behind the anime and comic books that inform our world view.
2019-11-121h 08What’s My Thesis?66. Carving Out a Lane - Rakeem CunninghamArtist @rakeemc discuses being pigeon holed and politicized, like when his work is described as body positive, but his body is not representative of the people the body positive movement is for. We talk influences, passive aggressive praise, being interviewed in print, toxic fandom, and how many of the intentions of black artists get overshadowed by the art world’s need to make the work exclusively about blackness.
2019-11-041h 01What’s My Thesis?65. Deep Fakes - Amanda CarterArtist @femmester and I discuss what how our trust in the photograph has changed in our lifetimes. We consider the implications going forward, and ask what happens to the surveillance state when we no longer believe photographs and video footage.
2019-10-281h 05What’s My Thesis?64. Photography as a Syncretic Experience - Amanda CarterArtist @femmester catches me in a particularly conspiratorial mind frame to discuss photography experienced as a fusion of different religions, cultures, and philosophies.
2019-10-212h 07What’s My Thesis?63. The Whiteness Episode - Lorenzo BakerArtist @zo_broo and I discuss America’s secret police, white female privilege, and civil rights activists who were murdered for speaking out about class struggle (MLK and Fred Hampton). We highlight a recent incident where white citizens had to step in with cameras to protect a black family from police brutality, and Lorenzo changes my perspective on my relationship to racially hostile people and spaces.
2019-10-151h 27What’s My Thesis?62. Anti-Black - Lorenzo BakerArtist @zo_broo and I go deep on structural racism, imperialism and oppression without a white person present to get defensive and make the conversation about them. We call out the police as a protected class and examine some of the symbols in our culture that reveal the true functions of these systems of racial oppression.
2019-10-071h 042019-10-011h 072019-09-171h 09What’s My Thesis?59. Critical Consumption of Media - Kellan Barnebey KingArtist and @montevistaprojects member @kellanbarnebeyking and I discover the differences in our similar world views, and share the challenges we have consuming all news sources. We discuss Air America Radio and their coverage of the George W. Bush administration’s push to change NPR’s funding structure in response to critical coverage of the Iraq war. And I stress out Kellan with a Chaos Magic concept about truth.
2019-09-091h 01What’s My Thesis?58. Pivotal Moments in History - Kellan Barnebey KingArtist @kellanbarnebeyking briefly shares art collective @montevistaprojects mission statement, before taking us on a journey from Pre-Colombian California to the geopolitical conflicts that affect the area today. With land and water rights as a central focus, we talk immigration, gentrification, and I learn why so many names we take for granted in LA, like Mulholland or Stanford, are tied to Southern California’s access to water.
2019-09-021h 16What’s My Thesis?57. An Illustrated Autoethnography - Dr. Bethanie IronsArtist and Art Doctor Dr. Bethanie Irons and I dive deeper into her dissertation "Becoming Within Entangled Spaces of Artistic Practice: An Illustrated Autoethnography" about instagram, breaking down the ways it affects artist's practice: motivation, reflection, place, research, experimentation, networking and promotion, curation and display, connection to other people, and it's complicated: love hate relationship. We consider "felt cute, might delete" as a way of being vulnerable while also trying to control how an image is read, and acknowledge that IG is tough even when you like it, and it serves you.
2019-08-261h 13What’s My Thesis?56. Instagram - Dr. Bethanie IronsArtist and recently hooded art doctor @bethanie_irons takes us through the process of defending her dissertation on Instagram. We talk in depth about her research, and how IG thrives as a tool for artists. We contemplate likes as a reward and punishment system, and pick up on the nuances of regional art communities. With a special shout out to South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
2019-08-211h 00What’s My Thesis?55. Generation Gaps - Katie KlineArtist and high school photography teacher @katiekline and I discuss how the rate at which technological innovation accelerates is responsible for the generation gap between Baby Boomers and Millennials. We talk generational feminism, powerful white men applying an outdated approach to disseminating propaganda, and what it’s like to teach a generation of kids who participate in active shooter drills knowing the world might end because of the way adults have set up their society.
2019-08-121h 11What’s My Thesis?54. FOMO - Katie KlineArtist and high school photography teacher @katiekline talks about Instagram related FOMO from the perspective of someone who’s process is rooted in consuming photography. She shares her experience teaching self portraiture to a generation raised on selfies, and describes an emerging archetype of student photographers that don’t take her creative photo class, but are known on campus for using DSLRs to make their classmates look hot on social media.
2019-08-051h 00What’s My Thesis?53. LA Stories and Poems - Alex Andrew SanchezLA Stories and Poems - Alex Andrew Sanchez - Artist and Poet @alex_andrew_sanchez and I share stories from our quotidian LA experience. We discuss the Illusions that being isolated in a car creates, Los Angels as a political space, and close out with regional poetry from zines, books and loose pages.
2019-07-291h 05What’s My Thesis?52. The Everyday Violence That Doesn’t Kill You - Alex Andrew SanchezArtist and Poet @alex_andrew_sanchez shares his interest in the convergence of painting and writing. Influenced by regional poetry and literature about Los Angeles, Alex is not as interested in stories of murder as he is in "the everyday violence that doesn't kill you, like riding the bus." If it sounds like Charles Bukowski might come up in this episode, it's because he does.
2019-07-231h 06What’s My Thesis?51. Origins and Practice - Michelle ChongArtist and Licensed Therapist @michellee_chong and I talk art practice and reminisce on the days when rolling around with a SLR film camera strapped around your neck gave you a sense of comfort and responsibility to document your social circle.
2019-07-091h 11What’s My Thesis?50. Narrative Therapy - Michelle ChongArtist and Licensed therapist Michelle Chong talks about her postmodern therapy practice in relation to art making, while I share some of my negative experiences with cognitive behavioral therapy and being turned away by modernist therapists who told me I needed to go to rehab for smoking pot.
2019-07-012h 17What’s My Thesis?49. 2020 - Micah WoodArtist Micah Wood and I talk about a variety of political issues relevant to the 2020 presidential race from a leftist perspective, and Micah has helpful grooming advice for Julian Assange.
2019-06-251h 01What’s My Thesis?48. L’Origine du Monde - Micah WoodArtist Micah Wood shares his research tying Gustave Courbet's L'Origin du Monde to psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, actress Silvia Bataille and intellectual George Bataille, before I pick his brain about contemporary painting.
2019-06-181h 06What’s My Thesis?47. Blobs - Laura Hyunjhee KimArtist and Author Laura Hyunjhee Kim takes us on a fun ride sharing ideas from her upcoming speculative theory book “Entering the Blobosphere: A Musing on Blobs” Available June 17, published by @the5accomplices. Support Experimental Non-Fiction, and pre-order a copy today!
2019-06-101h 01What’s My Thesis?46. Postmodernism - Adrian PaulesArtist Adrian Paules and I take a non-academic approach to demystifying postmodernism.
2019-06-031h 18What’s My Thesis?45. Anne Carlisle - Adrian PaulesArtist Adrian Paules talks about a screen crush he developed while researching Anne Carlisle.
2019-05-2754 min2019-05-201h 152019-05-1357 min2019-05-0655 min2019-04-291h 152019-04-221h 092019-04-0858 min2019-04-0159 minWhat’s My Thesis?37. Positive and Negative Frustration - Josh Scheadel - Live From Other Places Art Fair!
2019-03-251h 012019-03-051h 032019-02-191h 00What’s My Thesis?34. The Miaminess of Miami - Jessica GispertContinuing, Jessica Gispert and I talk about growing up Cuban American in Miami, as we bro out in this primer about being a kid in a hispanic culture that was allowed immigrate to the USA and flourish as refugees.
2019-02-061h 03What’s My Thesis?33. Santeria - Jessica GispertArtist Jessica Gispert and I talk about growing up around Cuban occultism in Miami. We have fun getting into the origins of Santeria while remaining careful not to upset the saints. Also, animal sacrifice...
2019-01-3158 minWhat’s My Thesis?32. Intersectionality and Deep Listening - Natalja KentContinuing, artist Natalja Kent gives me space to talk white privilege, racism on the liberal left, and why NPR listeners are problematic in this intense conversation about cultural wounds. We don’t fix anything, but I feel better after having my frustrations heard and processed by a compassionate white person.
2019-01-221h 04What’s My Thesis?31. Somatic and Embodiment Practices - Natalja KentArtist Natalja Kent stops by to share her experience with embodiment practices, and introduces me to practical techniques like body scans and the supper aggressive sounding Feldenkrais method. I say the words Supple Leopard for some reason, and we set the stage for an intense, but constructive conversation about cultural wounds in next weeks show.
2019-01-1545 minWhat’s My Thesis?30. Atomic Age: Rise of the Proxy War - Jamie HamiltonContinuing our conversation, Jamie Hamilton and I talk about the geopolitical strategies the US adopted during the Cold War, and the rise of the proxy war, before going on tangents about his last episode on Telematic Space, the pain of voting in the last midterm election, and why I think Donald trump is a Magician.
2019-01-081h 27
SOULFRIEND RADIOEpisode 71 | Javier Proenza | June 13th, 2018Javier Proenza (of the podcast What's My Thesis) and Gaea Woods discuss: From the Victorian era to present day: how dating has evolved in relation to technology. Courtship during the victorian era. Makeup home remedies. When courtship became dating. Unchaperoned dates in the 1920’s. How the 18th and 19th Amendments of the Constitution changed dating for women. Saloons and speakeasy’s. Enclosed cars and courtship outside the home. The 1995 book “The Rules.” The word bossy. Gaea’s acting debut.
2018-06-1300 min
What’s My Thesis?7. Stream of consciousness 1: Unencumbered TossSeth and Javier have an unscripted chat about backpacks, fish in creeks, and needy appeals for fan fiction.
2018-04-241h 16What’s My Thesis?1. The First Futurist, Italian Fascism, and the Avant-GardeSeth Lower and Javier Proenza are Los Angeles based artists who meet every week to share the answers they’ve found to the questions they have. Join them as they attempt to make sense of the world through history, art, and philosophy.
2018-02-1542 min